after the sea otter was declared endangered. Rabbit Rabbit fur is commonly considered a byproduct of the process of breeding rabbits for meat, and as such is produced in large quantities in England and France; more than seventy million pelts a year in France alone. However, the quality of fur from these rabbits tends to be low, as the rabbits are slaughtered before reaching twelve weeks old and still have the infant coat. In temperate climates, the highest-quality furs are obtained in winter from rabbits over five months old, when the thickness of the fur is even; at other times of year, varying degrees of hair shedding causes uneven patches in the fur. The coat is also at its thickest at this time of year. The highest quality pelts are suitable for clothing, and typically constitute less than half of all pelts collected. The fur of rex rabbits are the most sought after rabbit pelts. Rex rabbits have a rare gene that causes them to have no guard hairs, only soft underfur. This makes all the fur on the pelt of equal length and incredibly soft to the touch. While the pelts of regular rabbits are often used in utilitarian garments for warmth, rex rabbits are made into higher grade garments and accessories. Rabbit is the least durable of all furs, scoring 5/100 on the Austin chart of durability. Rabbit is also the cheapest of all fur with standard rabbit jackets worth around $100–160 new ($20–$40 used), and rex rabbit worth $300–400 new ($80 used). If a rabbit fur garment is shedding fur this means that it is dry rotted and can no longer be repaired. The hair of the Angora rabbit is preferred to be combed and knitted due to its length, caused by an unusually long growth phase in the hair cycle, the consequence of a recessive gene. Angora rabbit pelts are typically hard to come by. Raccoon and finnraccoon American raccoon Raccoon fur is mottled gray in color and about two and one-half inches long on animals from northern United States. In the southern United States the fur is shorter. Raccoon fur reached a heyday in the United States during the 1920s, when raccoon coats became fashionable among college students to stay warm while traveling in automobiles and attending football games. Finnraccoon (Asiatic raccoon dog) Finnraccoon (also called tanuki, finncoon, fincoon, Finnish raccoon, racoon dog, or just